ROCK/POP

Wet Wet Wet: "10"

(Mercury)

Dial-a-track code: 1311 Seems like only yesterday we were sneering at the boyish grin of Marti Pellow, and ridiculing their sub-Van Morrison soul; a decade later, with nearly 10 million album sales behind them, not to mention a tune which topped the charts for 15 weeks, Marti boy is having the last grin, so excuse him while he indulges in a little jazz and swing on the side. Yes, love is all around - in fact there's no escape, so you might as well sit back and enjoy the moonlight and roses. Following this nice soothing selection of late-night ballads the Wets go into soft-shoe shuffle mode with Maybe I'm In Love and Beyond The Sea. Lonely Girl comes back up-to date, to about the Seventies disco era to be precise, while Theme From Ten is the Wets' own romantic movie soundtrack a la John Williams. Smooth? If this album was a shaving cream, snogging couples would never have to worry about beard rash.

Mary Black: "Shine" (Darn) Dial-a-track code: 1531

Black rocks? Not quite. But Mary sure is moving nearer the rim of that territory than ever before; and it really has as much to do with the way drummer Jerry Marotta hits his skins as it has to do with the fact that Black has replaced producer Declan Sinnott with Larry Klein and recorded this album in LA. Marotta is the bedrock of most tracks, on top of which Klein adds his own bass figures, ably supported by a brace of LA's best. Plus, on a track like I Will Be There, Mary and Paul Brady on backing vocals. It is this musical mix, dominated by Mary Black's more upfront vocals, that marks Shine out as relatively daring and one of her best works to date, as well. Not just for fans.

Kerbdog: "On The Turn" (Fontana)

Dial-a-track code: 1421

The second album from the Kilkenny band Kerbdog finds the boys expanding their influences well beyond the neighbourhoods of Nirvana and Metallica. Yeah, there are still some Metallicisms in evidence on Severed and Pledge, while Sally boasts a typical Kurt-style intro, but most of On The Turn is a well-executed take on a genre which has spawned more second-rate grunge-rats than the Seattle sewer system. The sea-change in Kerbdog was signalled by last year's J.J.'s Song, which is included here, and the transformation continues with the recent single, Mexican Wave, a tune which surfs along on a crunchy-cereal riff before racing into a breakneck chorus.